THE ATTACK ON SALMAN RUSHDIE IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU EQUATE WORDS WITH PHYSICAL VIOLENCE. Too many Americans, especially younger ones, think it’s clever to equate offensive speech with physical violence as a way of shutting their opponents down, or justifying violent tactics to silence them. Yesterday we saw what that looks like in horrifying fashion: a 24-year-old man repeatedly stabbing a 75-year-old in the eye and the liver and severing the nerves in his arm, all for the non-crime of writing a book some people didn’t like. It’s way past time for the “speech is violence” people who infest every cultural institution in this country to grapple with the reality that what happened to Rushdie is exactly what they say they want for all of us.

STUDENTS SUE COLLEGE PRESIDENT WHO INVENTED RULES TO BAN CONSERVATIVE FLYERS. A new lawsuit from FIRE.

I’ve been at FIRE almost 19 years, and I continue to be amazed how scared administrators are of flyers.

SALMAN RUSHDIE ATTACKED ON LECTURE STAGE IN WESTERN NEW YORK. “An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. The author was taken or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained.”

MAR-A-LAGO SEARCH WARRANT WAS APPARENTLY ISSUED BY A MAGISTRATE JUDGE. I mean no disrespect to federal magistrate judges – who are not Article III judges and are appointed to 8-year terms – but were I the FBI, I probably would have made the effort to try to get a full-on federal judge with a life term to sign off on a unprecedented search warrant for the former (and maybe future?) President’s house. The point of such life terms is to insulate such judges from political influence, and getting a warrant from someone not so insulated, on something as hot as this, is not a great look.

(I am ignoring the angle here that he had also represented employees of Jeffrey Epstein – it’s usually not fair to smear lawyers with their clients – but that’s not the best optics you could hope for either.)

BREAKING: TRUMP ANNOUNCES MAR-A-LAGO RAIDED BY FBI. This will end well.

FBI WHISTLEBLOWER LEAKS BUREAU’S ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISM SYMBOLS GUIDE’ — And you won’t believe what’s on it! Ok, yes you will.

I figured I was already on their “list” for being a free speech lawyer, but I guess now I am super-duper on their list. Are you?

HOW CANCEL CULTURE BOOSTS THE POWERFUL — AT EVERYONE ELSE’S EXPENSE. I don’t think most members of cancel culture mobs realize they’re dancing to the tune of those who lead powerful institutions, but you can be 100% sure those leaders know it.

NO, CANCELING CHAPPELLE IS NOT A ‘WIN FOR FREE SPEECH.’ Yes, Twitter know-it-alls, you can demand everyone you hate be silenced. But pretending that’s as good for free speech as not demanding they be silenced is just silly.

CAIRN UNIVERSITY ENDS 50-YEAR-OLD SOCIAL WORK PROGRAM. Helped along by highly politicized accreditation requirements from the Council on Social Work Education regarding “intersectionality,” et cetera…

AND EVERYONE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER, HAVING LEARNED NEVER TO DO THIS AGAIN. RIGHT? RIGHT…? DHS formally shuts down Disinformation Governance Board.

FIRE SUES ON BEHALF OF U. OF WASHINGTON PROF WHO PUSHED BACK ON PREFERRED ‘LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.’ Instead of UW’s preferred text, Prof. Stuart Reges wrote on his syllabus, “I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington.” Shenanigans ensued.

Your more rigorous moral philosophers might suggest that if UW actually believes its claim on the land is illegitimate, it should give it back.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE WHEN SOMEONE GETS BUSTED FOR RETWEETING JAPANESE HENTAI PORN: Student pseudonymously retweets cartoon porn. Tags nobody at his college. College (an art school!) finds out, calls it sexual harassment, expels him forever.

If you’ve ever sent a message someone might see or hear and find offensive, spare a thought for this fellow.

HOW UT-AUSTIN ADMINISTRATORS DESTROYED AN INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY INITIATIVE. College admins really, really do not want students to hear unapproved opinions. And FIRE ranks UT-Austin #102 out of 154 schools in its climate for free speech.

SOME PRETTY CHOOSY COERCION CONCERNS FROM SOTOMAYOR’S DISSENT IN FOOTBALL COACH PRAYER CASE…

Second, schools face a higher risk of unconstitutionally “coerc[ing] . . . support or participat[ion] in religion or its exercise” than other government entities. The State “exerts great authority and coercive power” in schools as a general matter “through mandatory attendance requirements.” Moreover, the State exercises that great authority over children, who are uniquely susceptible to “subtle coercive pressure.” Lee, 505 U. S., at 588; cf. Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U. S. 565, 590 (2014) (plurality opinion) (“[M]ature adults,” unlike children, may not be “‘readily susceptible to religious indoctrination or peer pressure’”). Children are particularly vulnerable to coercion because of their “emulation of  teachers as role models” and “susceptibility to peer pressure.” Accordingly, this Court has emphasized that “the State may not, consistent with the Establishment Clause, place primary and secondary school children” in the dilemma of choosing between “participating, with all that implies, or protesting” a religious exercise in a public school.”

(PDF page 55; most cites removed for readability.) Great. Can we apply this to the endless, relentless pressure on K-12 public school kids to adopt and parrot state-established views on issues race, sex, LGBTQ issues, etc.? Oh, wait, those views aren’t “religious,” so publicly funded propaganda on that is OK, but a football coach offering optional prayers on the field is not. Got it.

Does anyone actually find this reasoning convincing, as opposed to convenient?

HAPPY ROE V. WADE IS OVER? NEW TITLE IX REGS MAKE THAT RISKY TO SAY ON CAMPUS. “The Biden administration’s proposed regulation uses a definition of sexual harassment that is similar to one that was struck down by the federal appeals court in Atlanta… [T]he court noted that it had ‘asked the University’s lawyer a series of questions about whether particular statements would violate the discriminatory-harassment policy: (1) ‘abortion is immoral’; (2) ‘unbridled open immigration is a danger to America on a variety of levels’; and (3) ‘the Palestinian movement is antisemitic.’ The University’s lawyer could not rule out the possibility that such speech would be deemed sexual or racial harassment under the policy’s broad language, without first considering ‘all the facts and circumstances’ surrounding the speech.”

(Bolding is mine.) There’s always another trick up the sleeve, isn’t there?

BIDEN ADMIN BRINGING BACK TITLE IX ABUSE WITH NEW REGS. They eliminate students’ right to a live hearing and to cross-examination and adopt a definition of sexual misconduct that (surprise!) can easily be used to censor political speech. FIRE will, of course, be on the front lines pushing back. And for a refresher, the Martin Center recalls some of the more notorious abuses dating from the Obama years. Expect this stuff to return.

‘[SUPREME] COURT STRIKES DOWN MAINE’S BAN ON USING PUBLIC FUNDS AT RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS.’ Public schools get to indoctrinate kids in the totalizing ideology of “wokeness” because even though it serves as drop-in (if lousy) replacement for religion, it claims to be secular. (This increasingly seems to me to be a “bug” in the Constitution’s language – I don’t think the Founders conceived of replacement religious ideologies that would claim not to be religions.) So it’s only fair that those who prefer their religion to the state-sanctioned one get the opportunity to take their tax dollars elsewhere.

‘TWITTER EMPLOYEES DEBATE BANNING LIBS OF TIKTOK IN LEAKED SCREENSHOTS.’ For reposting already public posts.

Everything about Twitter makes a lot more sense if you consider that it might be an influence-peddling operation masquerading as a for-profit company.

SERIOUSLY, WHO COULD BLAME HIM? Ilya Shapiro resigns from Georgetown Law shortly after reinstatement. His resignation letter is well worth reading.

GINNING UP A WITCH HUNT AT DUKE. In response to email about mandatory diversity training, Duke professor Bryan Cullen wrote, “My initial reaction is I refuse to engage in left-wing Maoist political propaganda workshops.” As if by magic, past, politically based grievances appeared on social media. Will my alma mater be wise enough to stick with its comment so far, which was that it has “nothing to add on this matter?” Time will tell…

WHEN A MEGACORPORATION ACTS LIKE YOUR PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE EX. “You want to change your iPhone battery yourself? Fine, you can, see what I care.” (The kit do it weighs 79 pounds and comes in two suitcases. Not even kidding.)

2022 HEADLINES: “SCIENTISTS GENE HACK HAMSTERS INTO HYPER-AGGRESSIVE MONSTERS.” While we might lose a cure for cancer, it might be time to shut down most of this gene hacking stuff (including “gain of function” crapola) permanently, by international treaty. If there’s one thing we have learned over the last few years, it’s that these “science uber alles” morons will discard all compunctions if they can make a few bucks.

ICYMI: FED CHAIR POWELL RECONFIRMED FOR SECOND TERM. Is this because he and the Fed did such a bang-up job manipulating the money supply in the last term? What does it take to not be confirmed? The argument for central banks gets lamer every year.

WISCONSIN MIDDLE SCHOOLERS CHARGED WITH TITLE IX VIOLATION FOR USING ‘INCORRECT PRONOUNS.’ In this case, “they/them.”

“ULTRA-MAGA” TOOK SIX MONTHS? I’d do it in six minutes for half the price!